A world of electric vehicles
Drivetrain: All-electric :: When available: 2012 :: Price: $57,400 :: Range: 160, 230 or 300 miles, depending on battery :: The juice: Tesla plans to build its second vehicle in California, thanks to $465 million in government loans. The sedan will carry as many as five adults and two children, and still get race car-like acceleration. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)
Drivetrain: All-electric :: When available: 2008 :: Price: $109,000 :: Range: 220 miles :: The juice: The first highway-legal electric car in years is also quite possibly the quickest, with zero to 60 mph acceleration in less than four seconds; that beats nearly any gasoline vehicle. Long waiting list. (Thomas Kienzle / Associated Press)
Drivetrain: Plug-in hybrid :: When available: 2012 :: Price: Unknown :: Range: 12.5 miles on battery; total range unknown :: The juice: Toyota, reluctantly entering the electron race, will put out a test fleet of plug-ins by year’s end. But a mass-market version won’t be available for several years, and the design of the Prius drivetrain means that it probably will never be able to run for sustained periods on battery power alone. (Ferdinand Ostrop / Associated Press)
Drivetrain: All-electric :: When available: Late 2010 :: Price: $25,000 to $33,000 :: Range: 100 miles :: The juice: Although Nissan will start mainly with fleet sales, a few Leafs (Leaves?) will be available to individuals before a larger rollout in 2012. Nissan hopes to eventually build this relatively low-cost entrant in Tennessee. (Itsuo Inouye / Associated Press)
